Amsterdam Dutch television journalist Daniel Verlaan of the RTL Nieuws news channel inadvertently managed to join a confidential video conference of European Union defense ministers. The Dutch Minister of Defense mistakenly published the access data on twitter.
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A visibly surprised technology reporter waved to the ministers on camera as he realized he was an unwelcome guest at the meeting. “Do you know that you joined a secret conference?” Josep Borrell, the Union’s obviously upset head of EU diplomacy, asked the intruder.
That @Danielverlaan hack of the EU defence ministers’ meeting? This is how it looked from the inside. Comedy gold. pic.twitter.com/1qvVYKsDpt
– Michiel van Hulten (@mvanhulten) November 20, 2020
“Yes I’m sorry. I am a journalist from the Netherlands. I’m sorry to interrupt your conference, “Verlaan said to the general laughter of the other participants in the debate. “I’m leaving,” the journalist added.
“Do you know it’s a crime?” Verlaana Borrell asked. “You’d better say goodbye quickly before the police come,” the head of the EU diplomacy added.
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Verlaan got to the video conference thanks to the fact that the Dutch Minister of Defense Ank Bijleveld published a photo on Twitter, which also contained the login address and part of the PIN code. “After numerous attempts, RTL Nieuws managed to guess the PIN of the secret meeting, because five of the six digits of the code were visible in the photo,” the television said.
While amused by the incident, it also raised serious questions about securing EU confidentiality. The meeting of defense ministers was ended due to the intrusion of a foreign person. “Such a violation is illegal and will be handed over to the authorities,” a spokesman for the EU Council said, according to the BBC.
A spokesman for the Dutch Ministry of Defense said that publishing the login details on Twitter was a “stupid mistake”, but that it shows how important caution is when publishing photos from meetings.
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